Home sweet home

Hello everyone!  

Finally I have made it to my placement of Banteay Meanchey Town, or Sereisisophon, or...I don't know what the name of this place really is because it depends what you want to say and where you are.  Before I get to my placement, I leave you with a parting sight of Phnom Penh with glimpses of the past as these two pass in the street carrying their goods.  

crossing paths

So, after parting with some of my goods which were to be sent with the other volunteer in 3 days, I was up at 6am to catch the bus to my placement, and endure the 7 hour trip.  Just so you know that it isn't just relaxing on a bus watching a Cambodian vampire movie, I thought I would add that the driver was regularly texting or phoning while he was "keeping an eye" on the road.  You really have to be here to appreciate the big picture of cyclists, horse and carts, tractors, motorcycles, trucks, other buses, and cars all sharing the 2 lane road.  Yes, I arrived in one piece and my VA (volunteer assistant) picked me up at the bus and we road his motorcycle with me, and my duffle, backpack, and "purse", to look at accommodation.

Let me introduce you to my new home.

This is outside the gate with my push bike (which now has a flat!). 

This is inside the gate.

My kitchen complete with fridge. (not everyone is so lucky)

Where the gourmet cooking will happen :-) The big white thing is my water filter

My downstairs living space and garage for my motorcycle. 

Where I dream of all the creepy crawly things OUTSIDE the net.  Yes, I am making doubly sure everything is tucked in now!!!!

My shower with hot water...really, who in their right mind would want hot water! 

When my VA wrote about the house, he enticed me with "an inside toilet"!  Bonus!! Until I met my new 8-legged friend this morning. 

My verandah (with glimpses of the construction material). My orchids haven't started flowering yet.  

View from my verandah

So, now you can see where I live.  I have cable TV ...if you enjoy listening to Khmer...actually there are English channels with lots of football (soccer) CNN, and BBC news.  I have only listened to K'mai as I am so wanting to get the hang of the language.  Yikes!  Will I ever manage it?  I have internet but the cable kind so no facebooking from inside my mosquito net.

Apparently the house is creature friendly.  The geckos startle me as they dart out from places where I'm not expecting to see anything move.  I do however love them and fall asleep to their chirping.  And, as some of you may have seen my post on Facebook, I have a creepy house guest sharing my toilet. I think I jinxed myself when I told Jesse that I hadn't seen any tarantulas yet.  It wasn't actually a tarantula...

I have come up with a name yet. Any suggestions? 

This is what greeted my sleepy eyes this morning when I went to have a pee.  I now knock before I enter but tonight it was back and the knocking first didn't do any good.  I thought it was safely locked in the bathroom until I notices a 4 inch square hole connecting the toilet room to the shower room.  Now, all 3 doors to that area of the house are bolted shut.  Do you think that will work?  Hopefully I won't have to pee in the night.  

Well, to make matters worse, my VA was telling me about centipedes.  My first encounter was in the hotel in Kampong Cham.  Anna, another volunteer found one in her room and together we investigated.  We got it in a glass ashtray to have a closer look.  When I took it outside to have a local tell me what it was, he freaked out, told me to drop it on the ground then he stepped on it.  So it was interesting having Vomith explain that he sleeps under the mosquito net to keep the centipedes out!  REALLY!!!  It would seem that once bitten you feel like you are going to die for about 24 hours.  Okay guess I really need to tuck my net it tight!

It is getting late and must to bed.  The roosters next door don't really know what time it is and start there noise anywhere from 4 am to 5 am.  Actually they can cock-a-doodle-doo just about anytime.  Guess no one told them to be quiet until sunrise!

I will leave you with pictures of my VA, Vomith.

This is Vomith with his 2 year old son. 

Vomith, his wife, and Alexander ready to ride home from the park...yes, all three on the bike.

Night all.  Hope you enjoy.  Again, love to hear from you.  Oh yes, and I have a spare room...if anyone is interested in a visit...off the beaten track...creatures and all.  

Lots of love and hugs,
Andy